The largest deployment ever of Vermont National Guard troops is scheduled for later today.
Some 600 soldiers have been called across the state to serve in the Middle East, but they are not scheduled to go to Iraq.
This most recent call-up is causing many to wonder about the Guard's new role as part of the US military presence abroad.
And as The Vermont Standard's Kevin Forrest reports, that's true especially among the older soldiers.
Many of us cling to an image of the National Guard as weekend warriors.
Sometimes they were called to help at natural disasters or big events.
But mostly they practiced being soldiers.
And they never traveled too far.
The Vermont National Guard's Spokesperson, First Lieutenant Veronica Saffo says threats against national security have changed that.
(Saffo) ….It’s all part of a bigger picture. It’s a global war on terror and the demands have been across the board increased.
It’s estimated that as many as 40 percent of the troops currently in Iraq are national guard or reservists.
And that new role has made some longtime Guard members uncomfortable.
Sergeant Jeff Hiers of Killington, VT is one of them.
(Hiers) This is a new phase that the guard has entered and it’s causing a lot of uncertainty for a lot of people
The 54-year-old Hiers is no military slacker.
He’s a former marine and Vietnam veteran. He joined the guard for comraderie and retirement benefits.
But he says he feels like the rules have changed.
And that's made him less than enthusiastic about deploying.
(Hiers) It’s not an unwillingness, there’s a reluctance, it’s like oh, darn, I gotta go. I and other prior service would feel better about going if we thought our work had some value.
The 600 members of Vermont’s armor units won’t be working on tanks as they've been trained.
They will be retrained as military police.
They will be sent to a country near Iraq.
In service jargon, they are being ‘cross leveled.’
(Hiers) We all have the same job now and they’re going to train us to be military policemen. I personally don’t want to be a military policeman. There are people who enjoy that type of work but I’m not one of them.
Lieutenant Saffo says this kind of retraining is not uncommon.
(Saffo) With national guard units it happens all the time, especially with the increased operational tempo that the national guard has been experiencing as a whole. Based on the mission you have to determine which occupational skills are needed for the various missions and draw folks from the various units to accommodate the successful fulfillment of those requirements.
The guard’s alert status has also changed the dates that soldiers are discharged.
The Pentagon uses the term ‘stop loss.’
Without it, Hiers’ term would have ended last month.
His obligation now extends far into the future.
(Hiers) My expiration date now, as is everyone else who is on stop loss, is 2031. So in 2031 I’ll be well into my 70s. But that’s my new expiration date.
Hiers thinks this hurts morale.
Lieutenant Saffo says the impact is minimal.
(Saffo) In our particular state the number of people affected by that were rather minimal so it hasn’t been a huge area of concern for us.
The days leading up to this deployment has been hectic for Guard members and their families.
(Saffo) You’ve got people trying to get everything in order for their families, trying to make sure that their employers are all set, trying to make sure that legal and financial documents are in order and you have them taking advantage of this time that they have left with their family…and it’s bittersweet.
Most guard members appear torn by the classic conflict.
They’re eager to serve their country, reluctant to leave their loved ones.
And Lt. Saffo says Pride in their service extends beyond the troops,
.
(Saffo) Overall I think there’s a tremendous amount of pride in what’s happening in the state, not only among the soldiers as they prepare to head off to fulfill this mission, this calling, but their families and their community members, their neighbors and friends and coworkers that are watching them answer this call and know that they’re willing to make the sacrifices it’s going to make the homes that we cherish that much safer.
A recently discovered glitch in Sgt. Hiers’ contract could prevent his deployment with the others.
But Whether he leaves or stays he well remembers other painful departures.
(Hiers) I can still hear the screams, Daddy don’t leave me, tears streaming down their faces. It’s a heck of a thing we ask our military people to go through.
For NHPR news this is Kevin Forrest in Reading, Vt.
